So last night i had finished with my dailies and ground out a fair amount of aldor rep (killing demons in Shadowmoon Valley) and was heading back to Shatt to log when i saw a curious thing in trade chat: “LFM Gruul’s Lair raid.”  Now normally i would have scoffed at this since i have been in my fair share of bad PUG’s (That’s Pick Up Group for those of you just joining us… or group of people you dont know).  However the person in trade chat was someone i knew and had been guilded with and had raided with. So i thought what the heck.  This might be good for a laugh.  So i joined and immediately saw a few familiar faces including one of the officers in the guild i am in.  So slowly but surely the raid filled up and we zoned in.  So… can a PUG of 25 people do 25 man raiding content?  Well my shiney new Netherblade Breeches say yes… yes they can.  The group ranged from fresh 70’s in a few pieces of kara gear to a couple of T6 “Leet” people.  But for the most part knew what they were doing and did their jobs very well.

Here’s a couple of 25 man PUG tips:

• Dont be “that guy”
  • Dont speak on vent unless you absolutely have to
  • Dont complain about anything in raid
  • Do you job
• Have a support system (while running this myself and the 2 other officers from my guild vented in officer’s chat about how much complaining some of the others were doing.  Like the holy pally who was whining that she was out of mana 1/3 of the way into the high king fight and dead on the second ground slam for Gruul)
• Have Fun… (it’s a game remember)

Now i have only ever done Gruul’s layer as a healer, so doing it as a melee DPS was a bit different…First off Gruul is Fracking HUGE!  I had a tough time know which was the front and which was the back (since he’s on all fours for most of the time).  It was also weird having to change positions every little bit to avoid the slew of cave-ins.  But all and all it was a fun fight.  I really liked being able to pop cloak of shadows every time he did ground slam… it made avoiding others a lot easier than on my healer.

So the moral of the story is that yes you can PUG a 25 man instance… assuming that the group you get is decent

I saw this interesting post on blutracker this morning and thought i’d share it with other rogues out there.

Potential rogue buffs / Dev Q&A
In terms of the big raid buffs, the ones we consider rogues bringing are Expose Armor, Wound Poison and Mind Numbing Poison. There are plenty of others more along the lines of Kick and Sap that are harder to quantify. (Source)

With that in mind can you tell us any plans that you have to better close this PvE to PvP gap that we’re seeing with certain trees? How do you plan to make all three trees viable across the board?
Yes, this is definitely a priority. It is a lot harder with classes in which all specs are still focused mostly on dps. We understand that some specs are just going to be better for 5-mans, for PvP or for raiding. We’re trying to equalize as much as possible, but we’re also trying to be realistic about our chances. (Source)

How do you plan to deal with talents which ware still considered all too needed by rogues, particularly in the case of Relentless Strikes? Is there any possibility of making Relentless Strikes a core class ability we can all train?
Mandatory talents are tricky. There are certainly plenty of them in every tree. Every warrior spec without Cruelty is pretty experimental, as is every druid spec without Omen of Clarity. Part of the problem is we keep offering new character levels along with new talents, so each expansion ends up constraining you more and more to one tree. The real red flag, for me at least, is when a spec has so many truly mandatory talents (which is a funny thing to say, since it’s still a little subjective) that they don’t have any optional talents. Instead of a cookie-cutter build being something like 20 plus your choice, they become you must get these 24 talents. If that makes sense.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to create anything but carbon copies of abilities in each of the 3 trees and not have SOME variance. If you want the highest DPS there will ALWAYS be a max DPS…even if by 1 or 2% one spec will ALWAYS be better.
I think it is very likely there will be a theoretical max dps build. However:

• It will probably vary from boss to boss.
• It might depend a lot on the skill of the player.
• Because there are so many variables (by design) it may be really hard to “solve the equation” for which actually is the highest dps build.
• For 90% of players (maybe more) that kind of damage difference is in the noise. Very few players can do 2500 dps one night and then 2525 dps another night (a 1% difference). Usually the delta is much larger than that because of random elements including things as non-gamey as Internet lag, how tired you are and just bad luck. If taking the most optimal build can’t gaurantee you dps higher than the random element in the equation, it may very well not be worth taking. Now if the dps gain is significant by taking the best build, then I agree with you.

Talent tree balancing
Rogue talents are hard because the class is ultimately very mathy. Without a finite resource like mana, it’s easy to analyze every possible move for its cost efficiency and ultimate damage delivery. This is coupled with the fact that it’s really easy for a rogue to move among trees. By contrast, before the advent of Frostfire Bolt a fire mage could mostly ignore frost. A shadow priest wants almost nothing in Holy. But having an emphais on poisons or stealth in a rogue tree doesn’t make a tree unattractive to a Combat rogue. I’m not trying to make excuses, but perhaps more than any other class, I find that rogues can evaluate a talent’s utility pretty easily. It’s a cool thing about the class, but it makes talent design challenging.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but our team has a really amazing rogue theorycrafter who stays really in touch with the community (anonymously). We have a surprising number of really good players on the team in general, but I always feel really safe about his conclusions on rogues. But that has also meant fewer blue posts than you deserve, so I’m trying to make up for that.

[...] I started a bit of a tempest in the warrior forms when I suggested Protection might get new talents that would let it be more PvP viable. But you know, they actually have some things they can do now…. Hopefully we can get 3 rogue trees there too.

Not really sure what the future will hold for us… but it’s nice to know that the folks at blizzard want to help us be the best we can be

So this past weekend was a good one for gear.  First up we did our weekly Karazhan clear.  During which i received: Girdle of Treachery, Bracers of Maliciousness, and Netherblade Gloves.  The Drape of the Dark Reavers also dropped but i lost the roll by 1. (ce’st la vie).  While running Heroic Slave Pens i also won Midnight Legguards.  And finally i spent the majority of the weekend maxing out my leatherworking and bought the pattern and made some Swiftstrike Shoulders.  (Which are absolutely amazing.) I’m also closing in on being exalted with the SSO (hopefully this week) so i can get my Shattered Sun Pendant of Might (Aldor).

The other day i received the following email:

Hey Numberseven,

What’s the best weapon type for rogues?

-Stabby

Well Stabby that’s a good question.  First off let’s take a look at the weapon choices we have as rogues.

• Melee Weapons
  • Swords
  • Maces
  • Daggers
  • Fist Weapons

• Ranged Weapons
  • Bows
  • Guns
  • Crossbows
  • Thrown Weapons

So which is best??? The answer is YES   Let me explain a little better.  The weapons you choose are based on two factors: Your Spec and your playstyle.

There are certain specs that require certain weapons.  A Mutilate/Assassination build for example will REQUIRE you to use daggers.  A combat spec will require you to use the weapon you have chosen as your specialty.  Subtlety Spec is nice because you can use any weapon you want and even mix and match and change on a whim.

So let’s assume that you just want to do the MAXIMUM DPS… well there are currently two specs that people rave over… one is Combat/Swords the other is Mutilate/Assassination… In the current build both to tremendous amount of damage… Mutilate through insane burst damage and a ton of crits… and Combat through is slow but steady stream of white damage.

Now… which have i chosen?  Personally i am Subtlety specd and am using swords.  Why swords?  Well they look cool and i don’t have to worry about the positioning problems that a dagger build would have (ie i can attack from in front or behind)  So why am i not combat then since it would increase my overall DPS?  Personally i find Subtlety more “fun” and that it suits my playstyle quite well.  (and Cheat Death has saved my ass more than once both in PVP and in PVE.

Well, what about ranged weapons?  Well back in “vanilla WoW” all that really mattered is “pick the one with the best stats” Things changed in TBC so that thrown weapons have a slight advantage over the other ranged weapons… That advantage is Deadly Throw.  Deadly throw is a finishing move that we have that is perfect for enemies that run away after a certain point in the fight.  It also provides a way to add some dps if we get knocked back and have to run for a second or two before we can get back in melee range.  While leveling i mainly used bows and crossbows.  But once i got the Deadly Throw ability and saw how useful it can be i became a throwing weapons believer.

So really there is no wrong answer it’s what suits you the best and will help you play to your highest potential.  I hope this helped out Stabby, thanks again for taking the time to write.  If any one else out there in “internetland” has any other questions or comments let me know.  (That’s what the contact me tab is for).

This weekend was an eventful one.  Friday evening we ran our scheduled Karazhan run and ended up doing a full clear.  We even one shotted every boss (except Illhoof, who took two because a couple of the new people didn’t quite get the /tar demon macro working right).  I managed to stay alive through all of the bossfights (other then the one wipe on Illhoof) even through Prince, which is usually the kiss of death for a melee DPS person.  (Cheat Death did save me twice durring the fight though… I LOVE MY SPEC).  Also i was 3rd in overall damage done (Behind a geared out Lock and Hunter).  Unfortunatly the entire run i only rolled on one item, my T4 helmet token which got me the Netherblade Facemask which stats wise is awesome! However I think it’s a bit on the “FUGLY” side… It remindes me of this guy:

From the 22 badges i got in Kara, and the ones i had stached in the bank i purchased a Bloodlust Brooch.  I also ran enough Eye of the Storm (hurrary for double honor weekends) to get some Merciless Gladiator’s War Edge. Also Brewfest began this weekend so i downed the holiday boss and received an Empty Mug of Direbrew.  So all in all it was a very productive weekend.  (Despite having to hide my PVE helm)

So last night i grinded enough honor to get my Merciless Gladiator’s Leather Helm and also, after completing the heroic daily had enough consortium rep to the the recipe for and make my Fel Leather Boots which are the best PVE blue boots in the game currently.   I also solo’d the quest chain ending with The Hound-Master and received Natasha’s Choker as my reward.  We’re scheduled to run Karazahn again tonight so hopefully i will be writing on Monday with tails of even more goodies

Today i thought i’d discuss the Rogue “to hit cap” since i’ve noticed that this site has been getting a lot of searches on it (and it’s a good thing to know too).  Let’s start with the basic definition of hit:

Hit refers to physical damage that occurs as a result of an attack made with melee or ranged weapons. The chance to hit increases by 1% per 15.77 hit rating points at level 70 and 10 hit rating points at level 60. The base chance to miss with maximum weapon skill against an opponent of equal level is 5% for two handed and 24% for dual wield.

Next let’s take a look at our chance to miss on various level raid targets (these are all dual wield values):

   * v. Level 70 mob: 24%
   * v. Level 71 mob: 24.5%
   * v. Level 72 mob: 25%
   * v. Level 73 mob: 28%

In the context of stats, the term “cap” refers to the point at which equipping more of a particular stat will have no additional value. For hit rating the cap usually discussed is in regards to raid bosses. For example, once you reach or surpass the hit cap, you will never miss an attack against a raid boss unless you are under the effect of some debuff that reduces your hit chance (for example, Attumen the Huntsman’s curse).

As shown above, your base chance to miss a raid boss while dual wielding is 28% with auto-attack on both hands. Your base chance to miss a special attack is 9%. For each 15.77 hit rating you equip, you reduce your chance to miss by 1%. Thus we can calculate hit caps for auto-attack and special attacks:

For rogues there are two different caps we’ll look at. (Why two? Our talent Precision (Combat Tree) will rase our base change to hit, thus reducing our need for +hit gear).

Without Precision:

• Dual-wield auto-attack: 442 hit rating
• Special attack or Single-wield auto-attack: 142 hit rating

With Precision:

• Dual-wield auto-attack, with 5/5 Precision (Rogue talent): 363 hit rating
• Special attack, with 5/5 Precision (Rogue talent): 64 hit rating

As you can see Precision makes a HUGE difference in the amout of +hit gear that we will need to collect.  Until you hit the cap +hit will boost your dps usually more than any other stat… (less misses=more DPS)

I hope you found this helpful, feel free to comment and ask questions if you have any

One of the first major decisions you’ll have to make after entering the Outlands is your choice of the Aldor or Scryer faction. The various items, enchantments, quests, and other rewards will play a huge factor in your choice. And believe me, it’s important you choose correctly the first time.  Now for Rogues the choice can be a little different for other classes.  I’m going to work under a couple of assumptions here:

1. The weapon rewards of being exalted with either faction are meaningless.  (Since the weapons you can get from PVP are vastly superior.
2. That you are not a Tailor
3. That at some point you will become exalted with the SSO (Shattered Sun Offensive)

So given those assumptions there are two things to consider.

1. Shoulder enchants
2. SSO necklace procs

First Shoulder enchants:

• Aldor +30AP +10 Crit
• Scryer +20AP +15Crit

Second the SSO exalted Necklace procs

• Aldor +200AP for 10 seconds
• Scryer 333 to 367 damage Arcane Strike.

Given the above above enchants and buffs, i chose to go with the Aldor, because in my spec the AP buffs will be more useful than the +5 crit and the arcane strike from the necklace.  Ultimately the choice is yours but i thought it would be good to consider the top level pros of each before making your decision.

So Hurray for guild drama!   So over the past 48 hours our GM kicked one of the officers for personal RL reasons and a mass exodus ensued… including the robbing of about half of the items and cash in the guild bank by another officer who saw himself as robin hood and a truely deplorable post by another of the officers on the realm forums.  When the dust cleared (at least for last night) most of the people that i liked and enjoyed running with were still in the guild and this is something that we will bounce back from… But the point i want to make here… is that warcraft is JUST A GAME!  Now trust me i love WoW as much as anyone and spend a ton of time playing it because i enjoy it and find it fun… now when a game stops being fun and starts being stressful or work… then i dont really see the point in playing anymore.  I am in a guild because i like the other people in the guild and enjoy raiding with them… do i care if i never down illidan or arthas?  Not really, so long as i am having fun with a great group of people.  I know that my opinion isn’t shared by everyone and that’s fine by me… we all play for different reasons and have different in-game goals… BUT at the end of the day this is JUST A GAME… (and i think it should be fun )

So i didnt get much play time this weekend as i was out of town… Sunday evening i ended up running 3 heroics… Mech, Sethikk Halls, and Mana-Tombs (which was the heroic daily)… The first two i ended up topping the total damage done, which i was quite proud of considering my current gear level.  Before the start of the second run the others almost booted me because of my gear level but i ended up showing them   I ended up with 13 badges (we did the extra boss in SH) and a spiffy new Pristine Fire Opal which i put in my shoulders.

I also did a couple of other runs and got Helm of Assassination, Tunic of Assassination, and Band of Celerity.  I hoping to get more gear in kara this week.